As winter begins at Northwestern, with <\/span>the season\u2019s first snowfall<\/span><\/a><\/span> arriving earlier this week, students face a flurry of changes, ranging from picking Winter Quarter classes to seeking out future romantic relationships. The Marriage Pact has similarly gone through a shift this academic year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The annual questionnaire, designed to find students\u2019 \u201cthe one,\u201d matches students using a relationship psychology-based algorithm.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, 3,853 students from NU participated in the Marriage Pact, a survey that analyzes demographic, values, analytics and feedback data to match participants. Students are asked about their preference for race, religion, politics and other core values to ensure the highest compatibility between pairings.<\/span><\/p>\n In previous years, participants were asked to rank their preference for a platonic or romantic pairing, meaning they would be matched with someone with a similar inclination, Weinberg senior Vincent Chen said. This year, the question was noticeably absent, Chen said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Getting rid of the question defeats the purpose of the Marriage Pact, McCormick sophomore Shin-yi Wang said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt definitely made the matches less accurate because someone who\u2019s not in a relationship could 100% be paired up with someone who is,\u201d Wang said.<\/span><\/p>\n Since participants cannot indicate their preference for a platonic or romantic match, Chen said the missing question may pose a problem when the pairings are revealed \u2014 people could want different levels of a relationship, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n SESP senior Sophia Suarez said the very title of the survey implies a higher level of commitment in choosing to participate.<\/span><\/p>\n The questions on the survey aim to match students for long-term compatibility, judging core values rather than surface-level traits, according to the Marriage Pact website.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe questions indicate something a little bit more serious than just (meeting) casually because they\u2019re talking about if you want to marry someone within your race, religion, political values and being open to certain things,\u201d Suarez said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, many students, including Suarez, see the Marriage Pact as just an entertaining activity.<\/span><\/p>\n Wang said her favorite part of the process is the anticipation leading up to the reveal.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy friends and I will try to guess who we got based on the initials and the major,\u201d Wang said. \u201cIt\u2019s just really silly and fun to play detective.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It may even be an educational experience, Suarez said, helping people figure out what they want in a partner.<\/span><\/p>\n Being able to evaluate likes and dislikes within a relationship is not only a way to learn something about oneself, but also provides an opportunity to see how compatibility works, Suarez said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always fun to think about the possibility of finding someone who (has) the same interests and goals as you do or is interested in the same things as you are,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cMaybe you don\u2019t like something and they like something else, and it\u2019s very compatible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Nevertheless, some students have found the Marriage Pact to accurately predict compatibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In her freshman year, Suarez received a friend match, which, she said, can happen when more one gender with a certain sexual orientation filled out the survey than the other and got her roommate.<\/span> Although it was not the match she was expecting, she said the experience made for a funny memory.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was creepy because we were really close,\u201d Suarez said. \u201cThe algorithm was perfect because we had a lot of the same thoughts, and it was so cute that we got put together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Email:<\/b> [email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Related Stories:<\/b><\/p>\n \u2014 <\/span>For Valentine\u2019s Day, NU students reflect on Marriage Pact experience<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 <\/span>Students reflect on Marriage Pact experiences<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n